Do you remember the time you bought your first computer? No? OK – how about your phone? Still no?

Isn’t it curious how the modern world is so obsessed with material goods (let’s call it stuff), and yet the joy we get from said stuff is so temporary?

Back to your memories. Do you remember your first trip abroad?

Yeah, I thought so.

We’re Hardwired for Experiences, Not Stuff

As James Hamblin explains here in The Atlantic, we get a kick out of actually doing things, and spending time and money cultivating those experiences makes us happy.

Owning material possessions, on the other hand, doesn’t.

The joy we get from acquiring and buying physical things is fleeting. Dr. Elizabeth Dunn of the University of British Columbia calls this kind of satisfaction a “puddle of pleasure”—because it quickly evaporates. People fawn over their new acquisitions before quickly and easily growing over-familiar with them.

Material things have expiration dates. Experiences are a lifetime investment. Click to Tweet

It’s part of why I love spending long periods of time living out of a backpack (is that weird?)—it forces me to take a personal inventory of the things that are important to me, and whether I want them in my bag/life.

And to me, and to so many others, all that stuff just isn’t all that important.

It’s especially easy to fall into the comparisons trap with material things. Have the best iPhone? Not for long! When the new one comes out, and someone/everyone you know gets hold of it, the money you spent on the old version feels wasted.

You end up stuck in this endless loop where you're hemorrhaging cash and spending money on things that ultimately end up forgotten.

Material Things Have Expiration Dates—Experiences are a Lifetime Investment

Even better, they’re irreplaceable. You can’t upgrade your first time in a whitewater raft, or the first time you jumped out of an airplane. You’re never going to trade that in for a better model. It’ll never lose its value, and it’ll stay with you forever.

How many times do you go skydiving or rafting through rapids in the average week? The special thing about experiences is that they’re temporary. And that’s the secret to their appeal.

Travel Gift Cards: Giving The Gift of Experience

Imagine if you could give those feelings you experienced on a life-changing trip to someone else, instead of giving them stuff that will quickly disappear from sight and mind. Imagine how that would feel, for them and for you.

This is the theory behind travel gift cards from Tinggly—and they’re the most elegant solution to a problem we’re faced with year after year: WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO GET THEM THIS TIME?

If you’re buying gifts for those who prefer experiences over things, the answer is exceedingly difficult. All the stuff you might offer will likely either end up a) forgotten, 2) in a drawer, or iii) weighing down their backpack or suitcase.

Giving meaningful travel experiences to other people is not easy. Luckily, a bunch of smart people realized this, changed the rules, and made it easy.

Give the gift of experience with travel gift cards from Tinggly

Tinggly: How to Give the Gift of Travel

Tinggly’s founding fathers are a group of four world-traveling entrepreneurs with a penchant for pushing the limits and experiencing all that life has to offer; they are a passionate group of travelers who value the concept of experience over things.

By creating travel gift cards, they invented the solution to a problem that’s never before been solved—how to give the gift of experience.

The person who has lived the most is not the one with the most years but the one with the richest life experiences. —Jean-Jacques Rousseau

As the person giving the gift of experience, Tinggly lets you choose from three tiers, at three different price points. The person who is receiving the travel gift cards can pick any experience they like within that tier.

Whether someone you know is celebrating a special occasion (like a landmark birthday or life event), or whether they simply love to travel and try new things, travel gift cards solve the problem of what to get them.

Why Travel Gift Cards Make the Perfect Gift

You’re not choosing for them. You’re giving them a huge number of options to choose from, from within one of three “Experience Collections.” Then you leave the rest up to them. The type of experience they receive is their call, not yours.

You’re letting them pick the time to do it, taking that potential disaster out of your hands. They can redeem it anytime they want in the next two years, and until they do, it’s pure anticipation.

You’re giving them an experience they’ll remember forever. It’ll never devalue. It’ll never bore them, or end up stuck in a cupboard, gathering dust. It’ll never get old.

You can easily give the gift of experience to someone anywhere in the world, no shipping address required.

It’s brilliant, really. Not only does it eliminate the agonizing decision-making process of gift-giving, but it’s a way for you to give a gift that that person will remember for the rest of their life.

So the next time a special occasion rolls around, try something a little different—something that’s not a waste of money, time, space, or all three. Instead, try giving the gift of experience with a travel gift card from Tinggly.